Petitions To Regulate Hog Farms On The Buffalo River Advance

Opponents of industrial hog farms near the Buffalo National River made some headway Friday.

The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission granted two separate petitions seeking to initiate a rule making process to further circumscribe limits to concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, operating near the Buffalo River.

The petitions by the Ozark Society and Arkansas Public Policy Panel seek to prohibit the Director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality from granting permits for operations with more than 750, 55 pound swine or more than 3,000 swine weighing less than 55 pounds.

Petitioners want to safeguard against threats to water quality posed by swine waste. Concerns arose after the C& H Hog Farm was granted a permit last year.